Pennsylvania hygienists will soon be able to administer local anesthesia in dentists' offices and practice independently from dentists under new regulations, according to the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA).
Hygienists who complete 30 hours of didactic and clinical course work in accredited programs will be authorized to administer local infiltration and intraoral nerve blocks, limited to the maxillary and mandibular areas of the trigeminal nerve.
To become a certified public health dental hygiene practitioner, a registered dental hygienist must have liability insurance and a statement from a licensed dentist that the hygienist has completed 3,600 hours of clinical practice.
Public health hygienists will be able to practice in public health settings without the authorization or approval of a dentist. They will be required to refer each patient to a dentist annually, but can continue treating the patient if the patient doesn't comply. If they take x-rays, the hygienists will have to send them to dentists for review within a month.
The regulations were approved by the State Board of Dentistry on March 20, 2009, but will take about six months more to finalized, the ADHA reported.
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